With some design and fabrication help from the Green River High School welding department, the Muley Fanatic Foundation and local Green River Ducks Unlimited Chapter will present their firearms used at their various fundraising events with newly fabricated rifle stands.
A total of 30 rifle stands were manufactured by the welding department led by GRHS welding instructor Tom Wilson and presented last Thursday to representatives of MFF and DU.
The primary design and manufacture of this project was accomplished by advanced welding students Ira Dickinson, Braden Chew and Mikenna Palmer.
The MFF had the first opportunity to use the new stands with the Southwest Wyoming MFF Chapter hosting its annual fundraising event at the Sweetwater County Events Complex.
“The stands were very useful in our display of long arms and how they came to be is the epitome of a collaborative effort worth celebrating,” MFF President and CEO Joshua Coursey said.
Coursey and Green River DU Chapter Chair Steve Core discussed the idea of fabricating these stands in February recognizing the benefit that both organizations would have with their annual events.
“It made sense to see if this could be pursued as a joint effort, after all we are all striving for the same goal when it comes to conservation,” Core said.
“I approached Tom with the idea and he and his students took it from there. Within a couple of weeks I had a prototype in hand for us to review.”
After a couple of suggestions were made to the initial prototype presented, the welding class set up what essentially became a fabrication assembly line and production began.
“This project was a tremendous opportunity for these kids to work through the process of design, adapt and develop,” Wilson said. “The experience gained from a project of this magnitude is very valuable for these students.”
In addition to the rifle stands, the welding department also fabricated a decorative fire pit for the Southwest MFF Chapter that was utilized in their fundraising live auction efforts on Saturday.
“The welding department and the creativity and abilities within this class are nothing short of stellar,” Coursey said.
“Having the opportunity to visit with the team leading this rifle stands project I can say first hand that these are talented young adults and are being led by a great leader with Tom.”
The costs of materials of the rifle stands are being split by MFF and DU and as an effort to recoup the costs, both have teamed up by offering a gun board with a Beretta A300 semi auto shotgun in camo and a Weatherby Vanguard chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. The gun board is available for those interested at Sweetwater Trophies in Green River.
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